The Fires Four and the Great War
by Alchemist Astrid
Summary: It has always been the duty of the Avatar to keep the elements in balance. But the Avatar had disappeared for a century, and the spirits ran out of patience. Now, the Fires Four are about to be summoned, to ensure that he does not fail… Rated T for BVA
1. The Prophetic Prologue

**The Fires Four and the Great War**

By: Alchemist Astrid

_The fires four will arise in war_

_To restore balance to the nations_

_With powers none have witnessed before_

_Examples of the Great One's creations_

_Nations will crumble, the earth shall rumble_

_When one rises above the rest_

_Then the four shall come to humble_

_Them with the Great One's crest_

_They will bestow kindness through the dark and blindness_

_And bring hope to the young and old_

_Bringing a fraction of the Great One's prowess_

_Bringing strength to the weak and fear to the bold_

_Strength divine through body and mind_

_Shielded from sight by will_

_Living among us awaiting the sign_

_Of their release, the end of the kill_

_They shall ally with those who comply_

_With ideals of a time long past_

_Be them silent or be them sly_

_So long as away are differences cast_

_Companions they have chosen will say_

_They are powerful, loyal and fun_

_And gradually, day by day_

_Their presences affect everyone_

_Uniting others of all tribes and colors_

_Everyone, everywhere_

_Treating them as sisters and brothers_

_Teaching them to heed and care_

_Loathing becomes love, foes become friends_

_When both night begins and daylight ends_

_When the path of life turns and bends_

_And when the four can handle what tasks fate sends_

_The fires four will arise in war_

_With powers none have witnessed before_

_They will come, should they sprint or soar_

_To friends that share their common lore _

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**(AN: This will eventually be a Zutara. First Fic! Read and review, please!)**


	2. Of Fiery Tempers and a Fire Nation Kid

**A/N: **Sorry I took so long to update. I kept getting this stupid error message. But thank you to all that patiently waited for this.

**Final Word:** Thanks to my first reviewers: Legacy of the Avatar, Zutara Lover, and yourmaster. I always give credit when credit is due. Thanks, LOTA, for all the help. This one's for you!

* * *

"Stupid Sokka and his stupid sexist mind," Katara muttered while attacking a berry bush and stripping it of anything edible. "You'd think that after Kyoshi…"

She and her brother had gotten into yet another sibling argument, which normally consisted of her minding her own business until Sokka opens his big mouth and says the wrong thing, and ends up with her retaliation by remarking or glaring. That, in turn, launches into a vocal battle, one that Aang normally had to intervene into if it was ever going to end.

Unfortunately, Aang, for this argument, could do nothing about it. He had come down with some form of ailment that made it hurt to talk, eat, and swallow. That made it so even if he were conscious, which he wasn't, he still wouldn't be able to actually do anything to dissipate the problem, unless he "charades" out what he wanted to say. However, that would've just made them even more frustrated, if that was even possible at the moment.

Eventually, the argument ended with a fuming Katara, a Sokka ice sculpture, an amused Toph, and a still unconscious Aang. Still livid, Katara created an excuse of gathering food for the others to leave the camp, which provided an excellent escape from socializing to soothe her inflamed temper.

At least the fight wasn't between her and Toph, again.

Suddenly, Katara heard a twig snap, not that far away, and she immediately got into a defensive stance with her flask open, the berries forgotten an the ground near the foliage.

She waited in the silence, and was rewarded for her efforts with the sounds of a surprised squeak followed by a grunt of pain.

Katara leaped into the clearing and regained her pose, only to drop it after she saw what it was that made the sounds.

It was a child, from the looks of it, and she guessed from the attire the child wore that it was a girl. It was impossible to distinguish what nation she was from, seeing that she was covered from head to toe in mud. '_And blood,_' Katara noted with a shutter.

The girl moaned and pushed herself, as though with much effort, to her hands and knees, indicating that she was still cognizant to the world around her. She held that position for a few seconds before collapsing back down in the ground.

Anger forgotten, and with curiosity getting the best of Katara, she drew closer to the dirty child. She noted that the closer she got, the tenser the child seemed to get.

'_Whoever she was running from must've been pretty cruel if this is how she reacts to me,_' she thought, slowing her approach slightly, as to not startle the little one more than she had to.

As Katara knelt down, the little girl began to whimper, more out of fear than pain.

"Shh," Katara whispered soothingly. "It's okay. You have nothing to fear. I just want to help you."

The she-child's body didn't move, but she did stop whimpering. Katara took that as a good sign.

"Where are you hurt?" Katara asked.

The child mumbled into the ground.

"What?" Katara asked, leaning in closer.

"My back and my tummy," she said, a little bit louder and clearer than before.

"How?" The question slipped out of her mouth before she could restrain herself. For some reason, though, the little girl didn't seem to want to respond to that question, and that was okay with Katara.

Deciding not to say anything else that would make their situation more awkward, Katara proceeded to roll the girl over so that she was laying on her back rather then her belly. She moaned, but made no attempt to stop Katara from what she was doing.

Katara closed her flask so that she wouldn't spill any of her water. She then slid her left arm under where her knees connected the thighs to the calves, or rather the back of her lower legs, and her right arm snaked slowly under the child's neck.

She clasped her hands together and lifted the girl up, shifting her as she rose so that her head rested on her shoulder.

The girl hissed in what was evidently pain and gripped Katara's clothing tightly, but she still didn't make any verbal objection.

Katara retraced her steps until she came to a river. She didn't stop walking until she was waist deep in and she lowered the girl into the rushing waters, breathing deeply and calling upon the therapeutic properties of her powers.

The water around the two girls glowed a light blue, and at the same time all the muck and grime on the girl was beginning to be washed away.

The first thing that was mud-free was the girl's garments, if they were even worthy of being called that now. They were tattered and dilapidated; the skirt of her dress was slit on the right side, exposing almost her entire right leg, (which was in the process of being healed), the bodice was torn in several places, and it no longer had and sleeves. In spite of the fact that it was now semi-clean, it was still brown, with a hint of green on the bodice. Earth nation clothes.

"Hold your breath," Katara calmly said to the girl. When she complied, Katara lowered her under the water…

…And got the surprise of her life!

She realized that as the muck was washed away that the child had red hair.

RED hair!

'_Oh, boy,_' she mentally ridiculed herself. '_If only Sokka could see me now…Me, healing a Fire nation child who's parents are probably-_'

The said child exhaled through her nose, blowing air bubbles out as she did so, catching Katara's attention. Katara then lifted her up out of the water and carried her to the bank.

The girl's eyes then fluttered open, slowly, as though awakening from a deep slumber. Pure gold orbs locked onto cobalt blue ones with an untainted gaze of pure gratitude and adoration, not at all the hateful glare of spite and undying rage that Katara had come to know from seeing from that blasted prince or those girls that followed them from Omashu.

The child smiled and snuggled closer to Katara, mumbling her thanks in a tired voice.

Deciding against her better judgments, Katara once again retraced her steps back to camp, arriving to a halfway-thawed Sokka, a bored looking Toph, and a conscious Aang.

Sokka's mood, so it appeared, hadn't lightened at all in Katara's absence. Rather, it only seemed to be substantially worse than before.

"It's about TIME you got back! Unthaw me!" Sokka shouted as soon as he saw her.

"Sorry, Sokka," Katara said back in a cheery manner. "My hands are full. I couldn't possibly bend at the moment. Besides, you seem to be doing just fine on your own, anyways…"

Toph's smile returned to her face. She could actually FEEL the anger vibrating off of Sokka due to Katara's remark. She lived for moments like this, that and proving that she was just as good as any bender out there, even though she was in fact blind.

Sokka stopped yelling long enough to notice the child in Katara's arms. The red hair was pretty hard to miss, honestly.

"Katara, what is a fire nation kid doing in our camp?" Sokka asked, uncharacteristically calm.

"She was injured," Katara replied, in an equally calm way. "So I decided to help."

"She's Fire nation!" Sokka exploded, getting back into character.

"She's a child and has needs, just like everybody else in the world! Including you, Mr. Six-Stomachs!" Katara retorted with a sharp edge in her voice, setting the fire nation girl down.

Aang sighed and began to study the appearance of the girl. Seemingly satisfied, he smiled at her and patted next to him on Appa's tail, inviting her to sit. With a slight bow of the head she obliged.

She sat quietly trying to drown out the sounds of the two water tribe members arguing. Sighing out of boredom she turned to Aang.

"So… how long does it take for the fighting to stop?" she asked in a honey like tone, hoping to get on the good side of at least one more member of the group.

Aang shrugged and began to rub his temples, obviously starting to get aggravated.

"Can't you do something to stop them?" the child asked, still quiet, but the wavering of her voice proved that she too was loosing her patience. Aang looked at her dejectedly before shaking his head. He then brought a hand to his throat and gently gripped it under his chin.

She looked confused, but only for a second, and then her face lit up. "Do you have a bowl handy?"

Now it was Aang's turn to look confused. Seeing that he didn't understand, she brought out a loosely knit bag with something in it. "Hot tea is good for sore throats," she explained.

Understanding, Aang airbended onto Appa's saddle. He then slid back down Appa's tail with a bowl in hand.

She looked at him in surprise. "Wow," she breathed. "That must be cool, being able to fly like that…" Her eyes got a faraway look to them, but she was snapped out of it when she saw Aang bend some water from the lake near their camp into the bowl in his hands. "Wicked," she whispered in amazement, setting the bag down on her lap.

Calmly and carefully she took the bowl from Aang's hands. Then she stared at the water, furrowed her brow and exhaled deeply. Her hands, from under the bowl, began to smoke. Seconds later, the water was steaming.

"Pick up the bag and put the bottom part of it in the water," she told Aang quietly, as to not alert the others. Aang nodded and placed the bag down in the water. He moved it up and down in the water when she told him to until she said to stop, and he placed the bag back on her still damp skirt. She insisted on him doing so.

She then handed the steaming bowl to Aang, who gripped near the top, as to not burn himself. He took a nervous breath and took a vigilant sip, all the while with the girl watching him like a hawk.

His eyes widened at the taste of it. It tasted almost like ripe peaches, and he suspected that she had put in crushed peach leaves to better the flavor. He smiled against the bowl and began to gulp the hot tea down. When it was gone, his throat began to tickle, and the pain subsided, if only slightly, but it was a definite improvement. He nodded his thanks, still not trying to talk.

She smiled contently nonetheless and ran her slender fingers through Appa's fur, gently scratching him, which he responded to with a happy groan. She let her mind wander while she continued to comb the soft fur.

When she finally came back to reality after stroking Appa, her fiery temper kicked in after hearing the word content that Sokka was using in insults to Katara.

Exhaling steam through her nose, she stormed over to Sokka, leaving behind an Aang that was rapidly growing more and more anxious.

Then, without warning, she thrust a punch in Sokka's direction, letting a fireball fly. The amount of fire used was surprisingly large, as much as what Zuko could come up with, and Sokka was freed instantly.

"There," She said, weariness and annoyance evident in her voice, all traces of the sweet tone she used with Aang gone. "You're free. Happy now?"

Sokka sputtered, to shocked from her actions to say anything intelligent (A/N: Not like that's stopped him before…), and too surprised to move from his spot.

She turned to Katara. "Is he always like this?"

Katara nodded. "Daily, just about."

The girl ran her fingers through her layered shoulder-length hair. "Listen, about what you did earlier, thanks."

Katara smiled. "Don't mention it. It's the ways of my people to be-"

"-Merciful. I know. Still, you didn't have to. Like your…" She looked decisively at Sokka. "…brother said…he IS your brother, right?" When Katara nodded, the girl continued. "Like your brother said, I AM a daughter of the Fire Nation, and our nations ARE supposed to be enemies…"

"If there's one thing I've learned in this stupid war it's that anyone can be an enemy." Katara then shuttered. "I learned that one the hard way…"

For a second the girl's eyes glazed over before returning to normal. "Oh, I see…" She appeared to be in deep thought at the moment before seemingly remembering something important.

"Oh! I never caught your names! Could you please?" She smiled sheepishly at Katara.

"Sure," Katara smiled. "My name's Katara. That's my brother Sokka…" She pointed towards Appa. "The big walking carpet is Appa. He's a flying bison. Next to Appa is Toph, and that's Aang on Appa's tail." She smiled. "And that's Momo on Aang's head with Sokka's fish…"

She took two seconds to digest this information before-

"MOMO! Come back with my fish!" Sokka dove for Momo, but he missed and ended up bowling over Aang. Toph promptly started laughing, mainly to make "Snoozles" mad, and Katara and the girl quickly followed the suit.

After the excitement was over, Katara looked at her once again. "We never heard your name…"

The she-child smiled apologetically and mumbled something that wasn't cohesive.

"What?"

"Makayla," she said, a little bit louder. "My name is Makayla. I am seven years old and I like spicy foods, friendly spars, and listening to witty banter, and I don't like it when people take one look at me and automatically assume that I'm evil."

She stopped talking long enough to take a breath and looked at Katara's bewildered face. "I have a big vocabulary," Makayla explained. "I picked it up from my dad."

"And what was your dad, a scribe?" Sokka asked, semi-eaten fish in his grasp.

"Actually, he's a cook." Makayla said with a big smile on her face.

That surprised everybody, but that was nothing compared to the aftershock of when she added, "As well as a mercenary…"

(A/N: Were this an actual anime, everybody would've abruptly fallen over in surprise.)

"A cook _and_ a mercenary!" Sokka's outburst pretty much summed up what was on everybody's mind.

She nodded. "And a doctor, too." She then shrugged at their still-shocked faces. "Fighting is what he considers his hobby. Cooking is his job. He comes up with new and better cures for sicknesses all the time while he cooks. It's what he does."

"So…" Toph came out of shock first. "He's not a soldier?"

"Nope!" Makayla chirped with a goofy grin on her face, one very similar to Aang's. "He just likes sparring. And watching spars. And having us try his new recipes. He likes a lot of things, actually, just not the war." She sighed and shook her head. "Anyone who's SANE doesn't like the war, but obviously nobody told that to the people of higher power…"

"Like Ozai?" Aang said, speaking for the first time all day, in a voice that sounded only slightly coarse now. His question earned him stares from Katara and Sokka, and a surprised expression from Toph.

"Yeah," Makayla said in an almost whisper. "Like Ozai…"

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**Disclaimer:** Makayla is MINE! I am officially (tm)'ing her. I currently own nothing else in the story, but then again, this is only Chapter one...


	3. Chance Meetings

Disclaimer: No, I don't own the Avatar or any of the main characters, just the story.

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The heat from the embers of the fire intensified and then receded. This repeated in the rickety shack several times, though it became increasingly more difficult to do so, as the fire was running dangerously low on the fuel it needed to keep on burning.

Another branch was added to the dying flames, this one still had green leaves. The heat intensified and the flames rose, illuminating the face of Prince Zuko.

His amber eyes stared into the flames, darting occasionally to the sleeping form of his Uncle, only to return to his original point of interest.

He inwardly groaned in annoyance and anger as he glared at the ever-changing flames. Meditation was supposed to help him, not make him feel even worse. '_It's supposed to be clearing my mind, not filling it with MORE unwanted nonsense!_' he thought in anger.

The fire leaped and the heat in the poorly made building increased. Zuko sighed and closed his eyes, inwardly commanding the flames and his tireless mind to calm down.

For a few moments, nothing new popped into his head, and then everything bombarded right back, that and more. Unwanted memories, old dancing lessons (A/N: Yes, dancing lessons. You can't expect anyone of royal lineage to not know how to dance!), something about tea leaves…

'_Arg! Stop it! That only reminds me about-_'

His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of loud footsteps and heavy breathing. He turned towards the entrance and he took in the sight of his 'visitor'.

He could tell just by giving her a sparing glance that she was in fact a woman. She was doubled over, her right hand gripping the wall, or what was left of the wall, and her left hand, which was wrapped up in what appeared to be a long leather strip, was pressed against her stomach. She was, in a word, filthy, but that didn't prevent him from seeing that she wore men's clothing, not did it hide that they were Earth Kingdom clothes.

"Hello," she said quietly, not bothering to bring her face up to make eye contact, something that the ex-prince had gotten used to in his exile. "Mind if I crash here until I feel well enough to find a river?"

"No," Zuko said bluntly.

She took her right hand off of the post and promptly did exactly what she said she would do; She, quite literally, crashed there, hitting the wooden floor with a thud and a short grunt. Almost immediately afterwards, Zuko heard her breathing slow, and he took a few more seconds to study her features. (A/N: Not like that! Head out of the gutters, people! whacks pervert-minded heads with a baseball bat signed by Drew Carey)

He discovered that, especially in the firelight, she looked a lot like that waterbending peasant that traveled with the Avatar. Her skin was dark, much darker than anyone in the Fire Nation, though it was considerably lighter than the peasant's. He also guessed that she was taller than his uncle, but then again, so was he.

"Why does she need to find a river?" he wondered aloud. He stood up and walked over to his supply bag and brought out his water skin. His excuse? She might've just been thirsty, and if he shared, she might leave faster.

As he was deciding this, his foot stepped in a puddle. He looked down at it, followed the trail of its origins, and he confirmed that whatever it was, the woman was lying on the wood floor in a puddle of it. Out of curiosity, he reached down and ran his fingers through the puddle and brought them up.

His fingers were now stained with the liquid, which was red.

Red with blood, he realized.

And with this much blood in puddles around her, Zuko was, put lightly, amazed that she was still breathing regularly.

He groaned and threw his water skin back to his pack, but, unfortunately, he didn't have very good aim. He ended up hitting his uncle in the head. (A/N: Which made a comedic sound, like when you'd get bonked on the head with a coconut.) The retired general snorted in his sleep before rolling over, and Zuko let out a breath that he didn't even know that he was holding.

Dismissing what happened, he picked her up bridal style and got his mind back on track by making a mental list of what he needed to do. First, he had to find a source of water. Then he had to find some way to do… whatever it was he had to do.

He found a source of water as he was debating whether he helped heal her or make sure that she had a proper burial. It wasn't quite a lake, but it was too big to be a mere pond.

He walked into the water with the girl still in his arms until he was waist deep and he lowered her in. Her blood immediately flowed in thin, long ribbons from her body to the far reaches of the lake, to the other side. He followed with his eyes one of the ribbons until he saw something on the other side.

It was a white stag, and from Zuko's perspective, even across the little lake, it was a big one. But what startled him more was that it was slowly coming towards them.

It walked into the water until it came within range of one of the blood ribbons. Then it lowered its head to the water and touched its nose to it. The said ribbon of blood, as well as all the other ribbons, flowed back to the girl at a surprising speed, and went inside the open wounds as though they never left.

Then the water around them suddenly rose and intertwined around them, covering them completely aside from their heads with water. That water began to glow an extremely light blue, almost silvery in color, and Zuko suddenly felt the strength that had slowly left him after the first confrontation in years with his sister return to him at am alarming pace. He then looked down and saw that the girl's complexion had darkened slightly, a minor indication that her once pale-ish skin was now healthy.

Then the water receeded off of them, and Zuko walked out of the water, pausing to look back at the strange deer. What was stranger, if that was even possible, was that it had lowered its head in what apparently was a respectful bow, to which Zuko returned to the best of his abilities. He DID, after all, have a girl in his arms.

Then the deer lifted its head, turned around, and started back towards the forest…

…And disappeared!

Zuko stared in amazement at what he saw. He then looked back down at the woman in his arms in realization. That stag was, in fact, a spirit, and it had intentionally helped her. '_But for what reasons?_' He didn't know, but he was determined to find out…

* * *

'_Pocky… faceless monkey… soldiers... OH NO! Soldiers! I gotta get up! I gotta get-_' The rushed thoughts of the young woman ceased when she realized that she had sat up on the lakeside, and found herself unscathed!

"I'm okay…" she whispered, surprised.

"You almost weren't," a voice she didn't recognize said, not too far from her location. As though instinctive, she shot to her feet, assumed a dragon stance and stared at Zuko with calculating eyes.

"Relax," He said, remaining seated and leaning against a tree. "I'm not here to fight you, only to question."

"Don't you mean interrogate?" She retorted in a strong voice, free of fear, yet also free of any malicious tones that Zuko had expected from her.

He responded with a light chuckle, which he rarely did anymore. "I no longer have the authority to do that."

"Huh?" She slacked her stance a little and stared in confusion at him.

It was then that she noticed his scar. Her eyes widened in surprise and her stance was dropped entirely.

"You used to be an officer?" She asked, her voice now conveying interest.

Zuko shrugged. "Something like that…"

Her eyes looked like they had glazed over for a second before returning to normal. "No, not an officer," she whispered. "The top of the line." She sat in front of him. "You're Zuko, aren't you?"

Now it was his turn to look surprised. "How did-?"

"News travels fast in this region," she said, looking slightly guilty. "That and I had to sneak in a fire nation camp to get an antidote for some poison that someone in my surrogate family had ingested. You'd be suprised at how much the lower class men know."

"Surrogate?" He raised his right eyebrow in confusion.

She simply shrugged. "My real family's dead."

She looked down and noticed how badly in shape her shirt was, particularly her sleeves, which were practically shreds. "Aw, for the love of… You wouldn't by any chance happen to have an extra shirt, would you?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Didn't think so…" she muttered, reaching into a pocket built into her pants, pulling out a dagger.

Zuko tensed up instantly. She noticed that, and smirked. "Relax, I'm not here to fight you…" she said in a deep tone, mimicking Zuko's in a playful way.

She then used the dagger to cut off the remains of her sleeves, fully exposing small, yet firmly built arms. She put the dagger back in her pocket, bunched up the clothing scraps, and shoved them in another pocket.

"Oh!" Her head shot up. "You wanted to ask me something! Sorry that I got distracted." She sat upright in a lotus position and folded her hands together. "What did you want to know? But make sure that they're within reason…"

Zuko gave her his no-nonsense face. "'Who are you?', 'How were you injured?' and 'Why did that spirit help you?' will suffice."

She looked confused. "Spirit?"

"A white stag."

Her facial expression morphed from utter confusion to realization, to a faraway yet thankful look. "Yasuo…"

"What?"

"Yasuo," she said, a little louder. Then she paused, chuckled, and shook her head. "I have no idea why I'm telling you this, but he's my guide."

"What?" She was starting to bug him.

"My guide. My **spiritual** guide. And to answer your previous questions, my name is Astrid and I'd rather not tell who did it, although I **can** tell you that it wasn't the fire nation, so rest easy."

"Why won't you tell?" Zuko asked in an even tone.

"Trust, _Prince_ Zuko, is not something that is given freely. It must be earned." She got up and knelt by the river. She wordlessly began to bend the water from the small lake, lost in thought.

Zuko watched Astrid with interest. '_So she _is _a waterbender after all. A waterbender that accepts my presence. Fool. I could easily-_' His wagon of thought stopped there. '_Yet, she knows that I'm the prince of the nation that she's against. That her _nation _is against._' These thoughts and many others entered his mind. Possible explanations of how it could've happened, meaning her injuries, also were sorted through. He finally resigned to the fact that he couldn't figure it out on his own and looked in the opposite direction.

"Perverted earthbenders," she suddenly said, not stopping her bending.

"Excuse me?" He was not prepared for that answer, let alone an answer at all.

"That's who did that to me. A bunch of perverts from an earth kingdom town. They injured me terribly but I managed to narrowly get away, at the near cost of my life, which you helped me regain." She turned her head and locked her eyes, rather interestingly colored eyes, with his amber ones. She smiled. "Thank you."

(A/N: For the benefit of the readers, Astrid's eyes are tri-colored. The outer part of them are a pure blue, but it changes to a soft golden brown, more brown then gold, as the colors reach the center.)

She dropped the water she was bending back into the lake and turned her body so that she was squarely facing him, as though out of respect. '_Wow, no one's done that to me since before the North Pole…_'

"Per chance, would you happen to know where I could find some food?" She asked politely. "I haven't eaten in three days, being on the run and all, and it won't be long before I get a migraine or snappish. Neither of which are pleasant for anyone." As she said this, she bended water from the lake and sipped it out of the air as though from a cup, with her pinky finger up.

She then smiled a goofy smile, one that rivaled the Avatar's. "That was aweful!" she said, though still managing to keep that stupid grin on her face.

Zuko couldn't help but let one corner of his mouth twitch into a ghost of a smile.

She was definitely an odd one…

* * *

My sincerest appologies for updating so late. Me and the 'Parental Unit' went to Disneyland and came back to find that the computers crashed after a power outage. Plus, my e-mail doasn't work.

But I still love reading reviews...


	4. Who wants tea?

So sorry that this took so long to update! What with my computer acting up and Band Camp starting...

I'm rather disapointed that there were no reviews for chapter two. I need feedback, espesially since this is my first fanfic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar

* * *

"Absolutely NOT!" Sokka's obnoxious voice could be heard for miles.

With that being his final word, he sat back down on the ground, seemingly satisfied that he got his point across. He would not let the firebending child come.

Katara cautiously pulled a finger from out of her ear, and then sighed. "Sokka, can I ask you something?"

Sokka was about to reply, but Toph interrupted.

"When you talk, do you hear the words that you say, or do you just hear the ocean? Or maybe a large roaring in your ears?"

She definitely had him looking confused there.

"Um… not what I was going to say, exactly, but that could work…" Katara muttered.

"Do you know who you sound like when you talk like that?" she tried again, from a different approach.

"No…"

"Just. Like. Them." Katara said, pausing for emphasis with every word. "Just like the people that you're ridiculing."

"I'm not like that," came the quiet voice of Makayla. "I mean, I know I have a temper and all, there's not a firebender in existence that doesn't, but I'm not mean and insensitive…" Her amber eyes began to water, and she whispered, "I'm not like that. I'm not."

Sokka turned to answer her when his gaze locked onto the pout that the little firebender was giving him.

Her large golden orbs had somehow increased in size, and their metallic properties were reflecting the twilight sky. The pool of tears threatening to spill over seemed out of place inside the eyes of the lightly tan-skinned red head.

The look was worse than Katara's pout back when the two water tribers were children.

He growled and walked away.

Toph rolled her eyes. "That's Snoozles for ya," she sighed. "Can't ever get something as simple as this through that thick skull and into that tiny brain of his."

Makayla sighed and politely excused herself. She then stood up and walked up to Sokka. She saw Sokka flinch as she approached, but she merely stood beside him in a relaxed stance. Nothing more.

"Your friend is sick," She stated.

Sokka didn't turn his head, but his eyes moved to look at her.

"Most likely the result of a post-nasal drip. The sign of weakened sinuses."

"And you'd know about this…how?"

She shrugged. "It's common for firebenders, actually. They'd firebend too much and scorch their throats. Then their sinuses would produce extra mucus to try and relieve the pain, but it only hinders them. They can't talk right. They can't swallow without it hurting. Sometimes they can't even breathe right."

She turned her head to look at him. "Daddy taught me to make herbal tea for it. I keep some on my person all the time." She patted her pocket.

Sokka turned his head slightly in her direction. "Are you saying that you can help Aang?"

Her face turned serious. "Yes, but I can't unless you let me."

"What's stopping you?" He asked, facing her.

"You," she stated plainly. "You won't let me come with you."

"But you can just-"

"NO," she said, cutting him off. "I refuse to be left behind. I refuse to be treated like I'm just a one-use-only person. And I also refuse to give up, to surrender, without a fight." As she said this, she clenched her fists, narrowed her eyes, and stared into his squarely.

Her stubbornness surprised Sokka, for it mirrored his own.

"You don't need to fight," he eventually murmured.

Her eyes returned to normal, or rather, they were no longer narrowed. "What are you saying?"

He sighed. "Just don't make a big deal about it, okay? I'm not one to fraternize with the enemy."

"I'm not the enemy," she said, calmly. Then her face broke into a goofy smile. "WE should get going if we're gonna kick Ozai where it hurts!"

Sokka had to laugh at that comment. Maybe he could get used to this kid.

Katara's jaw dropped. "Did she just get Sokka to…laugh!"

Aang went bug-eyed.

Momo cocked his head in confusion.

Toph fainted.

The two said adolescents looked back.

"What's with them?" Makayla asked. Sokka merely shrugged.

"So…" Makayla started, trying to dissipate the awkward moment, "Who wants tea?"

* * *

Iroh took a tentative sip of the tea and widened his eyes in surprise. "It's good!" He said, his tone matching his facial expression.

The young lady sitting across from him smiled at the compliment. "Is it?"

He smiled again and drained his cup. "As good as ginseng, possible even better."

Zuko, who had been sitting near the entrance since daybreak, looked towards the other two, shocked. "Uncle has found a new favorite tea! Agni, have mercy on us! The world's coming to an end!"

The young lady, Astrid, didn't bother to stifle her laughter.

After hearing her laugh, Zuko winced and turned away.

She stopped laughing. "What's his problem?" she muttered.

"You sound like his mother," Iroh replied.

She looked back at him. "Huh?"

"When you laughed like that, you sounded just like his mother."

"And I'm guessing that something happened to her, right?" she asked in a sober tone. Iroh merely nodded.

She appeared to be in deep thought for a minute, but then she chuckled out of nowhere.

"What?" Iroh asked.

"Eh, it's nothing, really. It's just…" she paused. "My dad said the same thing about MY mom…" She got a faraway look in her eyes. "I never knew her, so I took Dad's word for it." A thought hit her.

"What was his mom's name?"

"Ursa," Zuko said, "Not that it's any of your concern..."

"Mine was called Sora," Astrid said, unfazed by Zuko's manners, or lack there of…

"And you're right. It wasn't my concern. I just wanted to make sure that we were talking about two entirely different people. I mean, it's weird enough that, according to your uncle, General Iroh-"

"Oh, please, I'm retired." Iroh said, waving his arm like the subject really didn't matter. Then a thought occurred to him. "I don't recall telling you I used to be a general…"

She drew in a sharp breath, bit her lower lip, and looked away. For a few seconds there was an awkward silence, which Iroh finally broke. "You are a Seer, aren't you?"

Astrid looked up to see both firebenders staring at her intently, and she could imagine the spirits ridiculing her for her slip up. "Yeah," she finally admitted. "To a degree."

"And what would that degree be?" Iroh asked, interested.

"Well…" she paused, as though waiting for permission. "I am gifted with the ability to see the true identities of others, by making eye contact with them. When I do so, the spirits grant me a vision of an event that took place in their past, one that I could use to identify them with."

"So **that's** how you knew that I was a prince…" Zuko muttered.

She nodded her head. "The vision helped me to identify you, but I had heard stories about you, so I didn't need much more information to know who you were."

She turned back to Iroh. "I can also visit the spirit world in my sleep, but only if I intend to."

"What do you mean by that?" Iroh asked.

She blushed. "I also draw in my sleep."

This fascinated the retired general. "Is that like sleepwalking?"

She shook her head. "No, it-" she pursed her lips together to try and get the blushing to stop. "I draw in my sleep, but the catch is that I never move…"

Iroh's eyes widened. "You move it with your **mind**!" Zuko spun around. "She moves what with her mind?"

"What kind of things do you draw?" he asked, ignoring Zuko's outburst, which Astrid made a mental note of to do the same. Zuko huffed and walked away.

She thought for a minute. "It's randomized, really. It could be a person, a miscellaneous item, or it could be a texture of something. Most often, though, I draw events."

"What kind of events?"

She shrugged. "That's also randomized."

"Say, Miss Astrid?"

"Just Astrid, please. No 'Miss' or anything like that, if you please, **General**."

Iroh chuckled. "I see your point there. But I was just wondering about something."

"Okay, shoot."

"My nephew is learning how to bend lightening, but I am unable to tutor him any longer. It would appear as though age has finally caught up with me. (A/N: As if it already hasn't…) But Zuko is not done with his training, and there are few benders out there willing to help the fire nation, much less fugitives…"

"Uh…" she appeared slightly nervous. "Wouldn't you need a **firebending** teacher for that?"

"Lightening bending mimics waterbending techniques," Iroh explained. "It would probably be best if a waterbender taught him properly."

"I see," she said, rather slowly. "Can I sleep on that offer?"

"Sure," he said. "In the mean time, I'm going to look for Zuko." He got up and walked out of the run-down cabin.

"Say, Iroh?"

"Yes?"

"Why is there a bump on your head?"

She giggled as he automatically felt his head in confusion, sigh, and then walk away.

Calming her mind, she crawled to a corner, curled up into a semi-comfy position, as if to be ready to bolt should the need arise, and forced herself to sleep.

* * *

She opened her eyes a moment later and saw that her environment around her had changed from a run down house to a foggy swamp.

Smiling, she stood and began to walk. She walked for what seemed to be a few minutes, but was actually a few hours, before she reached a clear pond. The only soul there was a great white stag. Her smile widened. "I knew I'd find you here."

The magnanimous being lifted its head in surprise, and then made its way over to her.

"Greetings, Astrid," a fairly quiet yet soothing voice echoed in Astrid's head. "I dare say that this is quite unexpected. I thought for sure that you'd summon me to the human world if you wanted something…"

Astrid scowled. "You're never going to let that go, are you, Yasuo?"

"Nope!" the voice echoed again, in a cheerful tone.

"How many times do I gotta say that I'm sorry! I mean, how was I supposed to know that it was mating season! I didn't even know that mononokes could even mate!"

She took a deep breath to calm herself from that outburst. "Look, I didn't come here to get poked at with that again. I came here to-"

"You're welcome."

She shut her mouth and pursed her lips together. "Yeah, that and I needed to ask you something important."

"Let me guess," a child's voice pierced through the swamp. "You wanted to ask if he could give you a ride across the Earth Kingdom, right?"

Astrid's eyes narrowed, the blue on her outer iris almost crystallized, representing her mood. "Nevan…"

A young boy, about 12 years old, with blonde hair pulled into a topknot and bangs coming down to his blind grey eyes appeared from behind a tree with a smirk on his face.

(A/N: Okay, for this character, picture a younger Zuko, before he got his scar, Aang eyes clouded over, and Toph style bangs)

"What are you doing here?" Astrid asked, slightly peeved.

"Annoying you. What's it look like I'm doing?" the smirk intensified.

"Are you sure that we're even related?"

"Naw, we're not related, some hobo just dropped you on my grandfather's front foyer."

"Why you-" Astrid's eye color changed drastically. One second it looked the same as before, blue and brown, and then the next it was pure gold. It was as though her eyes were on fire!

"Stop it!" that voice rang through her head again, and in the head of Nevan, too, apparently. "Both of you will cease this pointless cousinly bickering or, so help me, I will plague both of your minds with visions **so** disturbing you'll be too frightened to sleep **ever again**!"

Both gulped nervously and nodded.

"Now, Nevan, is there anything you need?"

"Huh? Oh, right! I was wondering if you knew where my guide is. You know Ryu, right?"

"Did you try the caves?"

Nevan's eyes widened. He slapped his forehead and started walking away.

When he was out of sight, Yasuo turned back to Astrid. "You wanted to discuss whether or not to go through with teaching the fire prince waterbending, correct?"

She nodded.

"Very well, but listen closely. What I'm about to tell you is something that you **must** keep a secret at all costs."

"Even my life?"

"You're not going to die, Astrid. We've been through this before. It's my job to make sure that you don't die before your job is complete."

She sighed in relief, and then motioned for him to continue.

"Now, this is what you must do…"

* * *

Her eyes snapped open, and, for a split second, they were a pure gold again. But then she blinked and her eyes returned to normal.

"You're up, finally," Zuko noted.

"Zuko, do not be rude to a young lady, no matter what nation." Iroh reprimanded.

"It's fine," Astrid said with a slight wave of her hand as she sat up, as if to dismiss the subject. "We have more important matters to discuss anyway."

"Like what?" Zuko asked, in an annoyed tone.

She looked at him with an earnest face. "I've made my decision…"

* * *

Remember to review, please! 


	5. Unable To Ignore

"…She can come," Sokka announced, in a mumbling voice.

Aang spit out his peach tea in surprise. The other's jaws dropped in amazement. It was weird enough that the young firebender got Sokka to laugh, but to actually talk him into letting her come…?

A pessimist would look at this kind of situation and claim that the world was coming to an end. A realist would say that everyone has the right to act out of character every once in a while. An optimist would say that it signified the end of the long war. Why? The spirits were intervening, and when they intervened, then that was a sign that times would change for the better.

"What, y'all trying to catch flies?" Makayla smirked.

"Huh?" Katara spoke for everyone.

"Well, your mouths are open wide enough to do so…"

Both Sokka and Makayla burst out laughing as the others hurryingly shut their mouths and blushed.

"So, where are we going?" Makayla asked Katara.

"Well, we need to find another secluded place for Aang to master earthbending," she replied.

"What's wrong with this one? They didn't run out of rocks…"

"How can you run out of rocks in a canyon!" Sokka asked, baffled.

"You can't," Toph and Makayla said simultaneously.

"There's nothing wrong with this canyon, Makayla, it's just that…" Katara sighed and stared at her cup (which Toph earthbended for her, as well as the rest of them). "We can't stay in the same place for too long, or else the fire nation will find us."

"Oh…" Makayla said, quietly. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as we back up," replied Katara.

"Okay. Here, Aang, have the rest of my tea," Makayla insisted. "You need it more."

Aang nodded and swallowed the rest of it, whipping his mouth with his sleeve.

Then they all started packing up. Katara took care of the cooking supplies. Aang handled Appa's saddle. Sokka took the liberty of handling the food, which in retrospect wasn't a very good idea. Makayla and Toph helped out wherever they could, though Makayla ended up doing most of Sokka's job. He wouldn't stop eating everything…

"Everyone ready?" Sokka finally asked after they were all loaded up onto Appa.

"Uh…" Makayla looked slightly nervous, and was clutching the saddle as though her life depended on it, which Sokka noted, and an evil thought popped into his head.

"Five…" He started counting down.

"NO! Not ready!" Makayla shouted.

"Four…"

"I said I'm not ready yet!"

"Three…"

"Seventeen!"

"Two…"

"Twenty-eight!"

"One…"

"Forty-two!"

"Yip-yip," Sokka said calmly.

As Appa shot off of the ground, Makayla shrieked and buried her face into Katara's right arm, whimpering.

"Sokka!" both Katara and Toph shouted at the top of their lungs. Since Aang couldn't, he scowled and whacked Sokka in the head with his staff.

"Hey! I'm trying to steer here!" Sokka protested, earning a slight giggle from Makayla.

"Oh, think that's funny, do you?" he muttered.

Makayla responded by sticking out her tongue at the water warrior.

"Ignore him, Makayla," Katara said in a comforting voice. "He can be like this sometimes. The best way to deal with it is to ignore."

"I can't do that," she said sadly.

"Why not?" croaked Aang.

"You shouldn't be talking, Avatar Aang," Makayla said sweetly. "Not at least for a few more days."

"Just answer his question, please," Katara said.

"Just because you ignore something, that doesn't mean it isn't there…" Her eyes got a faraway look to them as she gazed at the clouds that they passed.

"Mommy…" she whispered.

-Flashback-

"_Mommy, men are looking at us funny…" a young redheaded girl latched onto the sleeves of a brunette woman in nervousness. _

"_Don't worry about it, Makayla. Just ignore them and they'll go away," the woman, her mother, replied in a calm voice. _

"_Okay…" she said, a little uncertain. _

_A few minutes later, she looked back again. _

"_Mommy… they're following us." she whispered. _

"_Ignore them, Mac," the woman said again, a little more firmly._

_This time, the redhead waited even longer before looking back. She gasped out of fear._

"_I said ignore them," the woman seethed. _

"_I can't," she whispered. "They're getting closer, they're big, they look like they've been spinning in circles, and they smell funny!" _

_The woman stole a glance behind her. Her eyes widened in realization and she uttered curses under her breath. _

"_What is it, Mommy? What's wrong with them?" _

"_Everything's wrong with them, Mac," the woman muttered. _

"_What's that supposed to mean?" the child asked, confused. _

"_Makayla, listen to me, and listen well," the woman said in a low and dangerous sounding tone, keeping her eyes straight ahead. "When I say so, I want you to run for the city's exit as fast as you can. Do not scream. Do not look back. And above all, do _not_ stop running until you are sure that the men are long gone. Understood?" _

_The she-child nodded, if only so slightly, and tensed up, ready to run. _

_After a few mere moments, both woman and child could hear the gruff voice of the said men, and could smell the sake in their breaths. "Hey there, beautiful. How's about a little fun?" _

_The young woman's eyes visibly flashed gold, and out of nowhere she summoned a jet stream of water and shot it at the drunk. _

"_Now, Mac!" She shouted, freezing the man. _

_Without a second thought, the girl darted for the exit of the city. _

_She felt sharp objects impale her. She wanted to scream out in pain, but she remembered what her mother said, so she kept on running. More sharp objects flew past her, and the fact that those were rocks registered in her mind. Those men were earthbenders. _

_A loud scream of agony pierced through the pleasant atmosphere of the bazaar, and she knew that it belonged to her mother. But she didn't stop, she just kept on running… _

_And running… _

…_and running… _

-End flashback-

"Makayla?" Katara shook her shoulder, bringing her out of the not-so-pleasant memory.

"Huh?" she turned to face her.

"Are you okay? You weren't entirely present, for a minute there…"

"I'm fine, really," Makayla insisted. "I'm just lightheaded, being up so high is all…"

"Oh, okay. Why don't you lie down and rest?" Katara suggested. The others nodded in agreement.

She shrugged and lay down near the back of the saddle.

After debating which position to lie in, which was on her back, she closed her eyes tightly, as though commanding herself to go to sleep. Thankfully, her dreams were peaceful, and had no reflection on the past few days.

'Thank the Great One,' she thought in the duration of her dreams. 'No Sake.'


	6. I'm getting Deja Vu!

Sweet! This is the fastest I've ever written a chapter, and it was during my first week of school! How sad (lol).

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Avatar, but I wish I did... but then again, pretty much EVERYONE that writes fanfics wishes that they owned some show...

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-One Week Later-

"Hiya!" the fire prince's voice pierced through the forest that bordered near the ocean. Following his war cry was the cries of birds as they were spooked from their original places in the trees, as though whining that it was too early, even for them.

A grunt of discomfort soon followed the battle cry, as well as the sound of foliage snapping.

"You used too much energy at once," a voice said in a reprimanding way. "Waterbending is defensive, not offensive. Don't worry about excess power until you're sure that you're safe from harm, first. Too much energy slows you down."

Zuko rolled his eyes and got out of the bush, brushing leafy branches out of his short hair.

"This is stupid, Astrid," he muttered quietly. "I don't get why I have to learn to bend fire like a waterbender."

"Of course you don't," Astrid said, suddenly appearing next to him, startling him. "That's why I'M the teacher and YOU'RE the pupil, not the other way around."

"How did-" he cut himself off. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

Astrid walked up to him and brushed more branches out of his hair at a fast pace. This earned her a protestant glare from her "student", as Iroh so courteously put it less then a week before.

The previous week went by surprisingly quickly. After Astrid agreed to teach Zuko, she told them that they'd have to relocate. Iroh stayed behind at the shambled shack with a large supply of Astrid's peach tealeaves. He would be fine.

Astrid and Zuko went westbound until they had reached the ocean, and then set up camp in a nearby forest. Due to the humidity in the air, her water supply was endless.

She'd coach him early in the morning, before daybreak, and again at twilight. When he had questioned this, she had said, "During the day is when firebenders are strongest. The point of me teaching you is to get you stronger, and the best way to do that is to teach you while you're at your weakest point. You'll eventually become stronger, and be able to handle more power, which is what lightening is." He understood, thankfully, and didn't question the timing again.

He **did**, however, question her definition of the word "fun."

When they weren't training, she was playing pranks on him, fooling around with her bending abilities, telling jokes, or climbing trees.

There were rare moments during the day when she was calm, and they would converse about their cultures, their favorite things, and on even fewer occasions she would talk about her family.

-Flashback-

"_My mother was the real warrior of the family, or so Dad said. She was an admiral in the navy." _

"_I didn't know that the water tribes even _had_ a navy…" Zuko muttered. _

_This earned him a glare from his "bending master". _

"_This was before both of our times, doofus. This was when Azulon was still a young Fire Lord. About twenty years ago, I think. Maybe longer. I dunno. I'm losing track of his stories." _

"_Whose stories?" Zuko asked, genuinely interested. _

_She looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "Dad's." _

"_Why are you losing track? Can't you just ask him to tell you again?" _

_Her reaction stunned him, to say the least. She had looked at him and given him a cold glare, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase "If looks could kill", and then she had gotten up and walked away, mentioning something about getting more wood. He was about to point out that they had a whole pile right next to them, but she was already gone. With her went the calm vibes that encouraged conversation. _

-End Flashback-

"Okay, Z-man," she said, using her new nickname for him. "Let's try that move again. Get it right before sunup and I'll give you both tonight and tomorrow morning off."

Zuko nodded and set himself into a relaxed bending position near a bonfire that had been set up to simulate the "ocean" that he would draw his fire from.

Without any warning a jet stream of water lashed out at him. He responded by waving his left arm in front of him, drawing fire from his "ocean" and created a small fire barrier. The water hit it and became steam.

More streams of water shot at him, and he used both his hands to guide his fire to intercept all of them.

Then, as he was deflecting a stream on his left side, his right arm lashed out in Astrid's direction, and what looked to be a whip made of fire shot towards her at an incredibly face speed.

Unable to deflect on time, it gave her a slight burn on her neck.

Surprised, she let all the water she had gathered from the air to turn back into vapor. "Much better. Less raw power, more control, more speed. And very nice whip, by the way." She gathered a little water from the air and made a glove with it around her hand. She placed her hand on her burn and healed it.

"So, what do you want to do? Eat? Sleep?"

"Excuse me?" Zuko asked, slightly confused.

She rolled her eyes. "You did perfect, moron. Now I'm going through with my proposition. You get the day off."

He thought for a minute, came up with a decision, and extinguished the bonfire. "Can we go somewhere?"

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Like where?"

Zuko looked around him while trying to figure out how to say how he felt, which wasn't easy. He didn't convey his feelings with anyone, save his uncle, and even then only so-so.

"Need a change in scenery?" Astrid guessed. Needless to say, she guessed accurately, because Zuko nodded.

Astrid smiled. "I know how that is. But then again, that's one of the many benefits of being a fugitive, having those kind of feelings and being able to listen to them without any real excuse of why **not** to."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "There's benefits?"

She laughed. "Oh yeah, there's plenty of them, too. This guy I'm courting has a ton of benefits, and that's just from being a fugitive from his own clan!"

This information was new. "You're courting someone?"

Her face suddenly became very red. "How about we go to a town and find some fruit, or something?" she said quickly, trying to change the subject.

Zuko wasn't about to let this go. "What's his name?" A thought hit him. "It **is** a 'him', right?"

"ZUKO!" she shouted, backhanding him on his arm, blushing even more. "Sheesh! And you think **my** definition of fun is ludicrous…"

"That's because it **is** ludicrous!"

"No, it's not!"

"How can you **not** call playing 'Let's Make the Hothead Slip on a Frozen Puddle of Water' ludicrous!"

She gasped playfully. "You admitted it! You're actually admitting you're a hothead! I'm so proud of you!" She ruffled his hair again.

Zuko put on his infamous scowl, but Astrid just ignored it. Even if she was only with him for a week, that was plenty of time to get to know about him, both with and without her psychiatric abilities as a seer.

"So, how about that idea I had about finding a town and getting something good?" Astrid suggested, changing the topic.

Zuko merely shrugged. It's not like he had a better idea anyways. He had lost track of the Avatar after the run in with his sister. Plus, admittingly, Astrid's inability to remain in one place for too long had rubbed off on him, somewhat.

"The nearest town isn't that far from here," Zuko said, headed back towards their campsite. "We'll be there by sunup."

Astrid nodded and followed after him, packing up a bit as she walked.

Zuko had pulled out a hat out of his bag and placed it on his head.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Astrid asked, tipping her head to the side to mirror her confusion.

"It's a disguise," Zuko muttered. "I can't have people recognize me."

"Oh, okay." She said softly, pulling her pack onto her back and falling into place beside him.

"By the way, what do I call you if anyone asks?" She questioned.

Without missing a beat, he simply replied. "Lee."

"Oh," she fell silent, but it was short lived, as were all silences between them. "That was fast. You've used that cover before, huh?"

"I'd rather not-"

"Okay, no prob." She shrugged, letting the subject go.

True enough, Zuko was true to his word. Just before the sun peaked over the horizon, the two teens were within the city's area.

As they approached the entrance, Astrid saw red marking the dirt path, and began to feel uneasy.

"Looks like there was a some kind of skirmish here," Zuko said, also seeing the red on the road. "But no bodies. Perhaps they were taken care of, already."

Somehow that made Astrid's uneasy feeling only grow worse.

As they drew within the city's boundaries, Astrid had a flashback memory. She whimpered and grasped Zuko's hand with her own.

This caught Zuko off guard. "What?"

"Zu-" she stopped and corrected herself. "Lee, I'm getting serious Déjà vu…"

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A/N: Dun dun dun! Sorry, guys, but I had to do it. I had to put in a chiffhanger somewhere. Oh, and just so you know, the next chapter will be the last one that will directly include Aang, Toph, Sokka, and Makayla. This **is** a zutara fic, after all, and I **really** need to get there soon.

_**Please**_ remember to review! This is my first fic and I need to know how I'm doing. I appreciate feedback, both comments or critiques. I don't care if you flame me, as long as you say what you're flaming about. None of that "You SUCK!" crap. Thank you.


	7. This isn't funny, Sugar Queen!

**Summary: **_One little incident has led to the separation of Katara from her friends and family. Now she travels with two firebenders: One a former enemy, the other more powerful then she lets on. But there's more to them all then meets the eye, and it all began with a prophesy of four, plus two to signify the end of the long war… Rated T for BVA, R & R!_

**Disclaimer:** _Sadly, I don't own it… (Insert sarcastic comment here)_

* * *

"_Come on, Mac. We'll take you to our place." _

"_But why would you want me? Why would _anybody_ want me?" _

_A young teen with brown hair that had a golden shine in the sunlight knelt down to the eye-level of the three-year-old redhead. _

_She gave her a smile that reflected through her blue-dominated eyes. "That's not a question you should be asking yourself, kid. The real question you should be asking yourself is, 'Why would anybody _not_ want you'?" _

_The three-year-old smiled a toothy grin and jumped into the teenager's arms and latched on like there was no tomorrow. _

_A shrill whistle caught their attentions, and the teen stood, the toddler still in her arms. _

"_Prongs!" a voice called out. _

_The teen smiled upon hearing the voice, and began looking around for its source. _

_Then, a boy with long black-brown hair, no older than thirteen years of age, ran up to the two of them, out of breath and with sweat matting his unruly bangs to the sides of his head. _

"_There you are! Lost track o' ya for a minute there," he said whilst panting. Then he blew his bangs out of his face in a manner that made the two girls lightly giggle. _

"_So, she's comin' with?" he asked after mustering up a little bit of dignity. _

_The young brunette looked down at the little firebender with a smile. "Yeah, she's comin' with." _

_Makayla hugged her elder even tighter, if that was even possible, before letting her grip loosen to shift to a more comfortable position. _

"_We leavin' now?" The male teen raised an eyebrow to further emphasize his impatience, which earned him a light chuckle from his friend. _

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're goin', Wolfie, we're goin'," said 'Prongs' as she started walking eastward towards their destination, which was what the two teens called "home". _

"_By the way," Makayla began, looking back up at the teen nicknamed 'Prongs'. "You never answered my qwestion: Why would you want me? No one else does. They don't like me 'cause I move fire. How come _you_ like me?" _

"_It's called 'bending'," 'Wolfie' corrected. _

"_Aside from that," 'Prongs' said in a soothing voice, "they don't like you because they are afraid of what…" She searched for the right word context to say for the –three-year-old's ears. "of what you might, one day, be able to do. Because of that, they will make fun of you, curse you, and some might want to bring you harm." _

"_Why don't _you_?" _

_The female teen sighed out of weariness from answering so many questions. She glanced at her best friend, who nodded in answer to her unasked question. "Because, if we diss _you_…" The two teenagers' eyes looked down at young Makayla. 'Prongs', whom before her eyes were blue-dominated, became pure amber. 'Wolfie', eho's eyes were seemingly hunter green before, were now a green and gold, and were in a pinwheel patters. Both sets of orbs shone in the sunset. "…then we'd be dissing _us_, too…" _

Makayla's eyes shot open, only to scrunch chut due to the intensity of the daybreak's sunlight.

She sighed. There was no way now that she'd be able to sleep again, due to the sun being up. Being a firebender, naturally, she rose with the sun.

Making up her mind on what to do next, she got up from her little corner of Appa's saddle, and walked to where Katara sat quietly, steering Appa.

"What are you doin' up?" Makayla asked.

"I should be asking you the same question," Katara replied.

Makayla rolled her eyes. "I'm a firebender. I rise with the sun. What's **your** excuse?" She emphasized her point by poking Katara in the ribcage, gently, which caused Katara to jump slightly.

She then grimaced, not really knowing how to say how she felt, but Makayla understood. "Past experiences comin' back an' bitin' ya in the butt?"

Katara looked at the youngest member of their little group in shock. She had been traveling with them for a mere week, yet she seemed to know them really well, as though they've been traveling buddies for years.

Makayla laughed at the expression. "I know that look well. Both Mom and Dad got those looks all the time."

"Bad childhoods?" Katara guessed.

"Worse than you can imagine," Mac replied glumly.

"Worse than losing your mother to the Fire Nation?" Katara asked bitterly.

Makayla winced, then narrowed her eyes. "Try never ever **knowing** you mother and losing your father to the **Water** Nation," she retorted. "Plus, he wasn't even a soldier. HE was retired!"

This comment had Katara dumbstruck. '_No, it can't be true… The water tribes, killing a fire nation father in cold blood?' _

"That's what happened to Mom," Makayla stated, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. She then got up to go dig in the food bag.

"You're sure?" Katara asked in a hushed whisper. Then a thought came to mind. "How many years ago was this?"

Makayla shrugged. "Eleven. Almost twelve. Why?" She looked up from the bag.

Katara sighed mentally in relief. "No reason." '_At least it wasn't Dad…_'

There was silence, save for the wind, for a few precious minutes.

"What about you?" Mac asked, out of the blue. "How long ago?"

Katara looked confused for a second, before realizing what she meant. "Six years. Then three years ago my dad left to fight in the war."

Makayla shrugged again and went back to busying herself by rummaging through the bag of food. "Are we outta jerky already?" she called out, her voice muffled by the bag.

"Yeah, Sokka ate all of it."

"Darn it! There goes our protein," Makayla said sadly, crawling out of the bag.

"We have nuts, too," Katara said absentmindedly.

"I'm allergic to nuts. Remember?" Makayla pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. You had that huge sneezing fit," Katara recalled. "Nearly burned Appa's fur."

"Yup, and now, if I have another one, blame it on Sokka."

"Blame what on Sokka?" Aang asked, just waking up.

"Blame what on Snoozles?" Toph asked immediately afterwards.

"We're out of jerky," Katara explained from Appa's head.

The two pre-teens groaned and fell back on their sleeping bags, obviously getting the meaning behind the message.

"Wait," Makayla looked confused. "I thought you didn't eat meat, Avatar Aang."

"Yeah, well, I'll take meat over Sokka's 'rock-shaped' nuts anyday," Aang retorted, bringing the girls to giggles.

"Agreed," Toph said in between giggle fits.

"Hey, I tried, okay?" Sokka mumbled through his sleeping bag.

"Does that mean you're up?" Makayla asked, only to be responded to by loud snores. "Guess not…"

Katara sighed. "I'll get him up…"

The next few seconds happened too quickly to recall correctly for anyone in the group. Katara had stood up to go wake up her brother, when a fluttering feeling ran through all of them, save Momo, who was flying.

Makayla had screamed in fright, but the others seemed rendered helpless, unable to do anything, save for looking shocked. Oh, how close to accurate that word comes in describing just what was happening to them.

The scream the little firebender gave was short, for she collapsed afterwards, unconscious. The others quickly followed the suit.

They awoke around the same moment a short time subsequently, all with splitting headaches.

"I feel like somebody opened up my head and deep-fried my brain," Makayla had commented. Toph laughed at that assessment, but whole-heartedly agreed, saying, "I hear that that's what a hangover feels like."

"Well, in that case, I'm never drinking. **EVER**!" The two girls started laughing all over again.

"Is he up, yet?" Aang asked, referring to Sokka.

Toph couldn't tell, so it was up to the other two to look.

"Still sleeping!" Makayla exclaimed. "Un-be-lievable. Your brother sure is a lazy one, eh Katara?" No response was heard.

"Katara?" Aang called out, worry evident in his voice.

"This isn't funny, Sugar Queen!" Toph exclaimed.

"You smell that?" Makayla asked, out of the blue.

"Smell what?" Aang asked, temporarily distracted.

"I smell something burning," Toph said in response to Makayla's query. "It's strong, so whatever's burning is alive, or **was** alive, at least…"

Horrified looks appeared on each of their countenances. Then those who could see looked around for any traces of fire.

They saw it behind them. It was a column of smoke. It was very far from their position, and even though they were far from it, they could easily tell that it was more than just a bonfire or a barbeque.

"Fire Nation!" Makayla hissed in distaste, suprising the other two with the level of utter hatred she expressed vocally, over her **own nation**.

"Fire Nation! Where!" Sokka sat up, just then deciding that it was a good time to get up.

Makayla pointed towards the smoke, and Sokka looked.

"What happened there?" Sokka wondered aloud.

"Not sure," Toph said. "All we know is that something **big** happened there, and that we're down one person."

"'Down one person'? What do you mean down one-" Then it hit him.

"We've got to get back over there!" He shouted, getting up quickly to get over to Appa's head.

Makayla felt a red flag go up in her head. "Wait, what? NO!" She tackled Sokka. "No, no, no! Bad idea! **Very** bad idea!"

"Lemme go! We gotta rescue my sister!" He thrashed, trying to throw her off.

Makayla held on tighter. "Will you just shuttup and use that head of yours!" she yelled. "Turning back may be exactly what they want!"

Sokka stopped struggling.

"You claim to have good instincts, right? So, what do they say about this happening?"

Sokka actually thought about that for a minute before realization hit him and he glanced over at Aang.

"Exactly," Makayla said, already knowing what he finally figured out.

"They want Twinkle Toes," Toph assessed. "and they might be using Sugar Queen as bait."

"So, what do we do?" Sokka asked, sounding defeated. They all looked at Aang, but he seemed indecisive.

At last, Toph spoke up. "Not that life will be easier without Sugar Queen and all, but we can't go. Not yet. We'd need some type of battle plan. But, first of all, we'd have to find out exactly where she is before we could do anything, anyway."

Aang gave a dejected sigh, which the others noted.

"Hey, chillax, man. She's a waterbending master, right? I'm sure she can take care of herself. If anyone tries to do anything bad to her she can just bend the liquids inside of them and then get away."

The others looked a mix between disgusted and horrified.

"What, you didn't know that?" Makayla asked innocently, obviously unaffected by how utterly gross the mental pictures were that formed in the others' minds from her words.

"Who told you that?" Sokka asked, being the first to recover.

"Mom…" The young firebender's eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and she looked away.

"You miss her, don't you?" Sokka's voice softened.

Makayla only nodded.

"When did you last see her?" Aang asked, genuinely curious. She had never talked much about her family, save a few details, like her father's hoppies and occupations. They were not awake when she was conversing with Katara, after all.

"A little more than a week," Makayla whispered. "That's when Katara found me."

"She said that you looked like you ran into trouble. What happened?" Aang asked, taking advantage of this time to find out more about their new ally.

Makayla's expression hardened. "Well, if you must know, me and Mom were attacked by sake-driven ear-" She quickly stopped herself, remembering something at the very last second, and cutting herself off mid-word.

"Earthbenders?" Toph asked. Makayla just nodded. Toph snorted in disgust. "Figures. Earthbending guys like to prove how tough they are, so they drown themselves in rum and sake."

"I don't wether or not Mom got out," Makayla continued. "Just like now with Katara."

She turned and looked at Sokka earnestly. "Don't give up hope. Pretend that she's immortal, if you have to, just don't give up hope."

She smiled and sniffled, whipping her eyes with the back of her hand. "And who knows? Maybe she'll find us, first, before we could even do anything."

Suddenly, Sokka started cracking up.

"What?" Aang asked.

"Nothin'," Sokka said, still chuckling. "Just Got a funny mental picture of Katara swinging a machete around at firebenders while letting out a battle cry."

The others cracked up as well. Even Momo seemed amused.

"That's the spirit, Sokka!" Makayla exclaimed. She then quickly got into a meditative pose, pretending she was an oracle. "I see…" she whispered. "I see… Katara standing triumphantly over Fire Nation soldiers that are twitching in agony!"

They were laughing now, their spirits had lifted considerably.

"That'll be the day…" Toph muttered, still giggling.

The remainder of the morning they flew in silence, but it was a comfortable one, each of them thinking of different scenarios of which Katara came out victorious.

Makayla looked over at Aang in pity. '_He likes her. Heck, even a blind man could see that Aang likes Katara. But if I'm right, then Katara was ment to be a key to the end of the Great War. Sorry Aang, but you'll need to find someone else to like, maybe someone your age..._'

Makayla then knelt down and prayed. '_O Lord of all creation, please shower your blessings down upon us, and upon Katara. Precious Lord, please protect her, whom has become precious to me and has been precious to them. And please, if she's alright, protect Mommy, too. Your will be done._'

She opened her eyes and held back a startled gasp. A lion spirit "stood" before her, one that Makayla knew well. After all, Leo **was** her spiritual guide.

"Granted," his deep voice spoke into the wind before vanishing…

* * *

**A/N: **Grrrrrrrrrrrr, I hate being grounded. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the delay, but I have good news: I'll have chapter 7 up by the end of the week! It's already written, now it just has to be typed...

Also, this will be the last chapter that we'll be seeing what's happening with the "Gaang" for a while. Gotta get to the real part of the story, ya know...

Please remember to review!

-**Alchemist Astrid**


	8. Amber Eyes!

**Summary:**_It has always been the duty of the Avatar to keep the elements in balance. But the Avatar had disappeared for a century, and the spirits ran out of patience. Now, the Fires Four are about to be summoned, to ensure that he does not fail… Rated T for BVA, R & R!_

**Disclaimer:** _Sadly, I don't own Avatar… Because if I did, that oasis water would have been used on Zuko's scar without fail. _

_A/N: I am SOOOOOOOOOO sorry for leaving this story unfinished for so long. My excuse is these four words: __**I HATE being grounded!!! **__Well, on the up-side, I'm cured of Writer's Block, for the moment. I'll be able to update more. _

* * *

"'Déjà vu'?" Zuko looked towards his teacher/traveling companion in confusion. "From when?"

"Uh…" Astrid swallowed in nervousness. She still didn't trust Zuko entirely, but she knew that in order to overcome certain hardships, she needed to have a shred of trust, at the very least, in someone, if she wanted to get by. But, then again, there was always the risk that if he found out…

She squashed that thought the second it popped in, and decided to take the risk, regardless of the outcome. "Remember a week ago, when I showed up at that shack in a bad condition?"

Zuko snorted. "'Bad condition' my foot. You would've died, had not I helped you and your guide had not intervened." He then fully processed what she was implying, and he stopped walking just as they entered the city's boundaries. "This is where you were attacked, isn't it?"

Astrid let out a deep sigh, but nodded. "This is one of the larger Earth Kingdom cities, and only the larger cities have pubs."

Zuko looked confused. "I thought you were attacked by 'perverted earth benders', I believe you called them."

"Perverted **sake-driven** earth benders," Astrid corrected him, putting extra emphasis on the alcoholic beverage. "Plus, I think that the blood we saw while coming in was **mine**."

She then shook her head. "No matter. We're here to enjoy ourselves. No use dwelling in the past, right?"

Zuko was very close to retorting that she knew little about how dire pasts could be, but then he remembered the conversation they had when they first met.

_- Flashback - _

"_You're Zuko, aren't you?" _

"_How did-?" _

"_News travels fast in this region," she said, looking slightly guilty. "That and I had to sneak in a Fire Nation camp to get an antidote for some poison that someone in my surrogate family ingested." _

"_Surrogate?" He raised his right eyebrow in confusion. _

_She simply shrugged. "My real family's dead."_

_- End Flashback -_

"No, I suppose not," he allowed.

"So, where to?" Astrid asked. "Today, you're in charge!"

"And tomorrow morning," he reminded her with a ghost of a smile.

"And tomorrow morning," Astrid echoed, nodding slightly. "But what now?"

"I'm not-" He abruptly stopped himself in mid-sentence. Then, without warning, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a building that was still under construction.

"What are you-!"

"Shh!" He cut her off with a hand over her mouth. "Listen…"

Astrid complied and strained her hearing, unable to do anything else. She supposed that she could lick his hand, but that would be far too childish to do to anyone outside her surrogate family.

"-heard from a reliable source that the Avatar's headed this way." A gruff voice said this, and it had caught the attention of both teens after the word 'Avatar' was spoken.

"Perfect. Once he lands we'll wait for him to come to us, and then we'll nab both him and the Bei Fong child."

"They had a child?" Astrid muttered aloud, her words muffled by Zuko's hand. "Never heard that…"

"Then we get the reward money!" Snickers followed the gruff voice.

Curiosity got the better of Astrid, so she gently pried Zuko's hand from her mouth and poked her head out from their hiding place, only to dart it back in, whimpering in fear.

"What? What is it?" Zuko asked, though he was not used to this fearful side of his new sensei. In fact, she was starting to make **him** nervous, which wasn't a god feeling to him.

"It's them!" she whispered loudly. "It's those earth bending perverts!"

'Perfect,' Zuko thought. 'One more reason to fight them. One being for the right of capturing the Avatar, and the other-'

"Hey, uh…Lee?" Astrid whispered. "My nose itches. I think we should-"

"Shh!" Zuko cut her off. "I'm trying to listen."

"-then we'll have all the pleasurable compan-"

"Lee, there's too much sawdust in the air here!" she whispered louder.

"Quiet, this is **my** day off, remember?"

"Zuko," she reverted back to calling him by his real name in a seething voice. "I'm gonna sneeze!"

"Hold it in!" he hissed.

"I can't!" she whispered, almost desperately. "What happens to you when you try to stop yourself from sneezing, Z-man?"

"That's different," he reasoned. "I'm a fire bender."

Astrid winced. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want you to find out like this…"

"Find out what?"

Astrid was no longer able to respond. "Ah-"

"Well, we'd better get back to work…" The voices seemed to be getting louder.

"Ahh-!"

"Astrid, we need to get out of here. They're coming!"

"Ahhh-!" Astrid's eyes widened, and Zuko got a major shock after he saw the color of her eyes.

Pure gold.

A trait only found in the Fire Nation.

Zuko was utterly perplexed. "Wha-?!"

"Hey, you can't be in here! Get out!" Zuko turned and peeked at the 'earthbending perverts' from under his hat.

"Well, well, well! Hey, boys, look who's here!" The big guy of the group pointed to Astrid. "It's the one that got away!"

"Let's pick up where we left off, shall we?" another said.

Needless to say, Astrid picked the perfect timing to let her sinuses get the better of her.

"ACHOO!!!"

The second that the air rushed out of her lungs at top speed, something erupted from within her. Not only was she ejecting sawdusty air, but she also sneezed out ashes, not to mention a tremendous fiery inferno that explained why ashes were even an issue.

The flames erupting from her mouth came into contact with a wood pile, which caught fire immediately, and the fires spread from there, around and upward, until the whole unfinished building was ablaze. All of this occurred in less than three seconds.

The earth benders shouted in surprise, and Zuko just stared, whilst Astrid looked guiltily towards him.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Zuko grabbed Astrid's arm and pulled her out of the burning building and away from the men. Neither of them looked back as they ran as fast as their legs could take them, until they left the city boundaries by a good half-mile, that is.

Panting near the foliage, Astrid sneezed twice more, completely incinerating a nearby shrubbery.

"'Scuse me," she muttered while rubbing the underside of her nose.

"I don't get it," Zuko said, still bewildered at what he just witnessed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"What's not to get? I couldn't trust you with everything about me, Z-man. 'Trust is something you earn', remember? I told you that on Day One."

"Well, that isn't really fair, is it? You could find out anything about me that you wish on a whim."

"Not true, I just was able to identify who you were. I'm not all knowing!"

Suddenly, she cried out in surprise and pain, clutching the back of her head. She pulled her hand back, and her hands were dripping with her blood.

"See? If I was 'all knowing', then I would've seen that…" She stopped in mid-sentence. Realization dawned on her face, albeit later than she would've liked, for it had just occurred to her that the reason for blood on her hand was that she had just been attacked.

"Run!" she hissed in an urgent tone, starting to bound in place from one foot to the other due to a sudden rush of adrenalin, one that generally leads to one of two actions: Fight or Flight.

"No!" Zuko hissed right back. "I never run from a fight!" He stood his ground.

"Then…" She looked ready to bound away at any given time, like a stag. Her eyes widened as an idea struck her. "Then, call it a tactical retreat! Just get your rear in gear!" She then turned and ran deeper into the forest.

Zuko was about to scoff at the very idea, but that was before he looked back in the direction that they came. His vision beheld the quickly approaching earth benders, whom looked mightily pissed, not to mention powerful. And there were several of them.

"Tactical retreat…" he muttered, letting the idea roll through his mind. He then nodded reluctantly. "I can live with that…"

He then followed the path that Astrid took.

Not much time had elapsed before he had both caught up with Astrid and had begun to overtake her. Though, this might've been due to her attempt to run and pull enough water out of the air for healing her head all at once.

"There's no water in this air, Z-man. I won't be able to water bend right."

"Then don't waterbend," he said with a smirk. "_Firebend_. Show me that you're capable of doing it other than when your nose acts up!"

"I wasn't going to use water to fight!" she shouted. "I was going to use it to heal my head! If I don't, it'll get infected!"

"Deal with it!" Zuko shouted back, pulling ahead of her.

Suddenly, Zuko stopped running. Astrid did not until it was almost too late.

She yelped in surprise as she tried forced herself to a complete, yet sloppy stop at the edge of a cliff, one that looked like a peninsula overlooking a sea of pine trees. She nearly fell, but Zuko grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Whoa," she breathed, expressing what was on her mind without realization. "I think we took a wrong turn."

"**Wrong turn**, wrong turn, _wrong turn_…" her voice echoed.

She felt like laughing at the sound of her echo, but then she caught wind of that thought, and shook off the feeling, labeling it as an act of deliria in her mind. She then wished she hadn't.

Astrid was downright terrified of heights, and with her deliria gone, the knowledge of just how far down she would have fallen if Zuko hadn't caught her became crystal clear. She was sure that she would've upchucked if not for the lack of blood. She caught herself almost being thankful for her head wound. _Almost_…

"Nowhere to run, now," Zuko muttered. "We'll have to fight our way out."

"Yeah, great idea," Astrid said. "But first, would you be so kind as to remove the rock imbedded in my skull plate, please? I can neither think nor see clearly, anymore."

He obliged, slowly pulling out the rock, as to make it as painless as possible. This didn't stop her from moaning in pain, though she shed no tears.

The amount of blood on it showed him all too well just how deeply it had penetrated. He was amazed that she endured that with nary a peep or a tear. Silently shuttering, he threw the offending piece of earth as far away as he could towards the direction that they came from.

It collided with something solid. That was to be expected. What they didn't surmise was the resounding ring that they heard with the sound of the impact. The rock hit something made of metal.

Armor.

"Already?" Astrid whined, but shifted her body into a shaolin dragon stance. This was the same stance, Zuko noted, that she had jumped into when she and he had first met.

Had it really been a week already?

"Prepare yourself, Z-man. We're about to make a major jump in your training."

He looked at her in confusion, falling into a stance that mirrored her own.

"If we survive," she continued. "I'll teach you to do it better. Smoother." Her gaze caught his, despite her rapidly blurring vision. "Right now, I need a fire bending master as my ally. Ready to step up?"

Zuko drew in a sharp intake of air, looking slightly shocked.

"I could make it worth your while…" Astrid thought about what he would want. "Something you'd wanna know about…"

"You could always tell me about that guy you said you were courting," Zuko suggested with a smirk.

She let out a surprised, yet quiet "eep!" sound that made his smirk even bigger.

"You weren't supposed to hear that…" she said with a blush.

"And why not?"

"Wait- why do you wanna know, anyhow?"

He shrugged, and his smirk intensified. "Just curious…"

In her half-conscious state, Astrid had yet another déjà vu moment at the sight of the mischievous twinkling in Zuko's eyes. _Where have I seen that look before?_

"Fine," she relented. "But only if we live."

"Not a problem…"

* * *

**A/N**: Geez, took me long enough, huh? I'm deeply sorry for not getting a chance to update this sooner.

This battle will be a two-parter, seeing that I'm already behind enough as it is with my updates… (I haven't been able to do anything with the story since… Holy crap! 10-11-06?! Dang!)

Oh! A congrats, kudos, and their name mentioned in my next posting for those who can tell me exactly where that "**Wrong turn**, wrong turn, _wrong turn_…" segment came from!


	9. Showdown at Sunrise!

**Summary:**_It has always been the duty of the Avatar to keep the elements in balance. But the Avatar had disappeared for a century, and the spirits ran out of patience. Now, the Fires Four are about to be summoned, to ensure that he does not fail… Rated T for BVA, R & R!_

**Disclaimer:** _Do I really need to say this anymore…?_

* * *

"Remember, since this is raw power, start out in a small and controlled amount," Astrid whispered to Zuko in encouragement. "Less power, more control. You're just conjuring one small bolt, not a thunderstorm. Great One forbid it to ever come to that…"

That last part she had muttered mainly to herself, thus the meaning behind her words was hidden from her ally, who had looked at her in confusion.

"No, don't look at me," she chastised gently, her eyes never straying from her point of focus, or lack thereof… "Concentrate on the road ahead and the area around you. Assume your stance, find your center, _quickly_, and call the lightning to your finger tips. Don't forget; you are its guide, not master. You must-"

"Can you even do it?" Zuko dropped out of his stance and turned to face her, not bothering to hide how annoyed he was at her monotonous muttering.

"Found 'em!" An earth bender came into view, pointing at them.

Astrid squinted, as though to will her eyes to clear up. She didn't see as well as she would've liked, but she could make out the earth bender out from the rest of the forest. It was harder than it would appear, for she was now limited to seeing blobs of color, so she focused on the blob of color that had **moved**.

She drew in a shaky breath and extended her hands out in front of her; two fingers on each hand were pointed forward, and the other two were curled back, while the thumbs remained extended upward, slightly twitching due to nervousness that never once was shown on her face.

She moved her arms in the traditional water bending style, and as she did so, the tips of her fingers began to glow and spark with energy. At first, it had no specific color, but then it began to take on a bluish tint.

She then clapped her hands together. Slowly, she separated her hands. In the space between, lightning fluctuated, and a sphere formed, growing until it swelled to the size of a small coconut. The color shifted again, this time to a hunter green, and there it remained.

Again she moved her arms. The sphere of green lightning followed the movements of her fingers above her head. She twirled her fingers as though she was holding an imaginary slingshot, and the sphere followed. Faster and faster it spun, until there was a green halo above the both of them.

Astrid, content with the momentum, then let the sphere fly, directly towards her foe, who was dumbly staring at the ball of light.

The sphere hit the earth bender head-on and forced him backwards, out of sight.

The sound of metal against metal and the startled shouts of men resounded through the forest, and Astrid pumped her fist in excitement.

"Anything else you wanna ask?" she asked Zuko, looking quite smug.

He was too surprised to think of a comeback. He could only ask in wonder, "What was that?"

"Shock-shot, I call it," She said, smiling proudly. "It's meant neither to kill nor mortally wound, just to cause paralysis or force the enemy away from you. And from what I heard, I just forced him back into those other pervs!"

"Is this part of the curriculum?"

"Would you like it to be?"

"Fire nation scum! You're through!" A deep and gruff voice echoed through the forest, and the men came crashing through the trees to where the two had made their stand.

Insults were hurled at them, as well as boulders that varied in size and shape. Astrid insulted right back and returned fire, literally.

Zuko tried to drown it out, drown out all the sounds, though at first he had little success. Then he tried a different approach than just closing out everything. He tried to think of one sound to lock on. One sound to focus on to help the others to fade away. His chosen sound became his rhythmic breathing, and succeeded in blocking out all others.

'_Please don't screw this up_,' he thought. '_Please, let me get this right, Great __O__ne_.'

He nearly broke his concentration when he realized who he had unconsciously pleaded to. Not to Agni, this time, but to Astrid's "Great One". Yet, somehow, it felt right. After all, if this "Great One" listened to pleas from an outcast among outcasts, then what was one more outcast's plea, right?

'_For once in my life, please, let me get this right the __first__ time…_'

Keeping his eyes focused on the benders in front of him, he moved his arms in a way that had become familiar to him over the past week. He was barely aware of his own movements as he felt raw power flow through him. What began as a pleasant buzz in his arms slowly grew, until the power level suddenly shot through the roof! The power flowing through him now felt like liquid fire eating away at his muscles.

Now he understood what Astrid meant when she said that too much raw power was a bad thing.

In panic, he thrust his arm forward, his fingers in the same position as before; two curled back and two pointing up. In an attempt to relieve his body of the extra power, he guided the lightning through his extended arm and out through his two extended fingers. The lightning came out a vibrant orange, and struck the earth benders in the general direction he had pointed in.

Four earth benders cried out in pain and surprise, and then were never heard from again.

Astrid's eyes widened, and she momentarily averted her gaze from her point of focus, or lack thereof, and turned her attention to Zuko, her expression a cross between surprised and impressed. "Did you actually intend on that happening?"

"No…" Zuko looked at his hands in astonishment, before looking behind him.

Oh, duh. The sun rose. No wonder his powers had spiked.

"That's good," she said, resuming her gaze on the forest. "Then we'll be able to get a better hold on that kind of power once training resumes."

As she said this, Zuko noticed a shadow on the ground, and he glanced upwards, only to see that a large boulder was being bended above his sensei's head.

"Of course, not today, considering that it's your day-"

"Look out!!" He shouted in surprise, pointing towards the large rock above her. Then, without intending to, leftover streams of lightning flew from his fingertips to the chunk of earth, which broke it into gravel and dirt and resulted in a loud explosion. Astrid was much more awake after that.

"Nice shot!" she complimented, giving him a thumbs up.

After that stunt, though, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to do that again. So he went back to fire bending, leaving the lightning to his sensei.

They both had no real intentions of killing the earth benders, so they eventually fell into a somewhat- routine. She would study the ground for shadows and bend lightning to the airborne boulders, with the explosions giving her a good wake-up call every time, despite her body's frequent attempts to shut down. She would also use her shock-shot whenever she saw an opportunity. He would wield the fire in a water bending style, making sure that no one would be able to lay a hit on her.

At first it seemed like neither had gained any ground, but it was during this time that the tide of the battle had changed, and one little mistake on Astrid's part had tipped the scale that would eventually determine the outcome of the Great War itself.

It's strange, looking back, seeing how it all started with a case of blood loss and clouded judgment.

She had seen another shadow and sent up a bolt of green lightning, not even bothering to glance at it. There lies her mistake, which she realized was so after she didn't hear the anticipated explosion. She was hunched over from exhaustion, so she had to crane her neck to be able to see. All she could see was a blue and brown blur falling from the sky towards her. The colors collided with her back, and her knees gave way to the sudden increase in mass they had to hold up.

She collapsed to the ground pelvic area first, and she felt insanely excruciating pain for one split second before… nothing.

In that brief point of agony, she cried out in anguish, and all energy reserves of lightning she had left, which was still a substantial amount, were ejected from her hands all at once. The lightning struck down trees, shrubbery, and perverts alike.

It was a good thing that Zuko was on the opposite side of the clearing she hit…

Actually, when he felt the levels of energy being used in that final strike, he had dove behind a bolder in hopes that she'd miss him.

It might've seemed cowardly, what he did, but he was no fool. That level of pure energy was enough to kill them all.

'_How could she survive after pulling a stunt like that?!_' He wondered. But then a darker thought crossed his mind.

'_She might not have. She could already be dead…_'

She remained conscious long enough to hear whom was obviously "lord of the pervs" sound a retreat, and then she finally allowed her vision to darken and her mind to shut down.

She was out before her head hit the ground.

Zuko had waited for a few moments before coming back out, cautiously, in case the retreat was a trick meant to lure them out.

No earth benders remained, thank goodness, but he still couldn't see Astrid, either.

He looked around for a short while before he noticed an out-of-place coloration: blue against brown. Beneath it was his sensei… as well as his friend.

Once again, she was lying in a pool of her own blood.

'_Oh, great Agni, please don't let her be-_'

He took her pulse by placing two fingers on her collarbone, nearly falling over in relief after confirming she was still alive. Although slow, her heart rate was steady.

He then registered the blue and brown on top of her, realizing that it was just a person with dark skin and darker hair wearing blue clothes.

He lightly brushed away the hair covering the person's face, and his eyes widened in shock as he recognized who it was.

Honestly, after nearly getting his butt handed to him back at the North Pole, there's no way he could've forgotten that face.

It was that water bending wench that traveled with the Avatar!

Astrid must've shot the Avatar's bison by mistake, knocking the girl off.

He immediately looked upwards, craning his neck to look around him. There was no speck of white anywhere in sight, meaning that they probably didn't even know that she was gone.

All the same, for the first time in what seemed like years, he felt like his luck was finally changing, for the better.

Yet, in the midst of his silent celebration, his blasted conscience intervened with the ultimate question:

'_Okay, how on earth am I going to carry two unconscious girls at once?_'

* * *

_**A/N: **Okay, I am now working on this story durng my free time in school, seeing how that's the best time to come up with stuff like this... and I can only update on weekends, so bear with me, kay? I don't plan on ending this story anytime soon. It ain't over 'til it's over. _

_So, until next time, this is Alchemist Astrid signing off!_


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